Stained Emerald Mirror
by Vrock8
Summary: Necron raider ship lands in Gensokyo for repairs.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Touhou Project and Warhammer 40k are owned by their respective owners.

**[...]**

If Khalid had any muscles on his face left, he would have cringed at the state of the raider ship. Beaten by asteroids and worn on the outside, inside it was a cluttered mess of cables, impassible hallways and inert, barely alive scarab constructs.

His guide was in no better shape either, and every time the emaciated, angular mechanoid in front of him stumbled, it looked like he was going to fall and shatter. He straightened up and continued on every single time though, leaning on his staff like it was but a crutch, not a symbol of office or devastating weapon.

"The state of the ship is unacceptable," Khalid declared. "You should be ashamed, cryptek."

The cryptek stopped and turned his head, giving Khalid a dull, flickering stare.

"I followed my orders, praetorian. Seventy eight thousand cycles, and I shall maintain this ship for forty two more, just as the launch program stated. I have nothing to be ashamed of."

Khalid resisted an urge to scoff. The mechanoid was old, he was awake for far too long, and he wasn't even a harbinger, just a cryptek, a master of nothing. He had no right to talk to the agent of Triarch like that, but Khalid let it slide for now.

"Your launch program was damaged, and your instructions are wrong. You were not supposed to leave the shipyards. There is no fleet in this star system for you to join. Your vigil was for nothing."

He expected a reaction, an outburst, but the cryptek said nothing, and his eyes remained the same dull and flickering. Khalid would have ground his teeth, but his lower jaw was not moveable anymore, so he took a pause to drain his anger.

"How long it is to the bridge?" he asked.

"Two more machinery clusters, the second one is fully operational and clear. This way."

The cryptek turned and ducked into an adjacent cluttered corridor. Khalid followed, and disdain washed over him when a single oil drop landed on his skull from somewhere above. The dirty, filth-dwelling cryptek was surely used to this kind of thing, but Khalid took pride in perfection of his metal form, and such things were unacceptable.

He decided to find means to clean himself at the first opportunity.

They made it through a passageway, then through a noisy, worn auxiliary nexus before reaching the shaft of a service elevator. With unsurprising awkwardness, the cryptek started climbing the emergency downward ladder, and Khalid followed, again assaulted by feelings of disdain.

It was his calling in life to travel the galaxies and find things like these, things without purpose, lost, nearly destroyed tombs and outposts, forsaken labs and webway gates, things broken over the millions of cycles since the Great Sleep started.

And sadly, this abandoned "dirge" class raider was no less a part of Necrontyr as everything else. It had to be returned to the stasis dock, and this type of mission Khalid firmly considered beneath his abilities. He should have been chosen to be the prophet, the one to spread the words of Necrontyr greatness to the lesser races but no, he had to crawl the maintenance corridors and hope that his ancient guide would not crumble right in front of him, damning him to wander the ship alone.

They entered a more important and thus much better maintained section of the ship. The scarabs here were active, clumping around the cable connectors, and Khalid caught a glimpse of the multiple eyes of their massive spyder controller in the shielded alcove.

The cryptek remained silent, and it wasn't long until they reached the bridge, a room at the apex of one of the two control pyramids. A massive gilded throne dominated the center of the room, and Khalid wasted no time making his way to it.

"It is the seat of our lord," the cryptek said, and for the first time Khalid detected a trace of emotion in his words.

"By the authority of Triarch, I am taking command of this ship."

"The "Aeon Apex" belongs to our lord, and-"

"By the authority of Triarch, I am taking command of this ship," Khalid repeated, slightly raising his voice. He waited for signs of further disobedience, but the ancient mechanoid just slumped, brought up a glowing hololithic control panel, and pressed a few symbols on it.

"The ship is yours, praetorian." He pushed the panel through the air towards Khalid and shuffled out of the room.

"Bring me some sort of absorbent material," Khalid said to cryptek's back.

He received no response and inwardly frowned. This ancient custodian was not insane, and could still be useful, but just as likely he could become a dangerous liability. He had to be dealt with, but for now, the praetorian turned his attention to the display.

As expected, the damage was extensive. The ship's quantum shielding was stretched as thinly as possible to conserve energy, and it lead to some unsaved asteroid impacts. Likewise, the inertialess drive was in conservation, and had to be carefully reactivated.

Khalid opened another tab, the crew tab. The dock program that launched the ship was damaged, loading and sending often random assortments of troops to random points in space, so he expected a jumbled, nonsensical roster. It started up pretty normal: a lesser lord of Nekthyst dynasty, his royal court of a single cryptek, a squad of deathmark assassins in the retinue, three platoons of warriors…

"Will this suffice?"

Khalid nearly jumped, and instinctively clutched his weapon, pointing the pronged tip of his two-handed staff at the faceplate of the cryptek. The cryptek didn't move or squint, his dull eyes flickering as usual, a piece of torn spongy insulation in his extended hand.

"I can bring you something else if you will be more specific in your request," he said.

Khalid reflexively exhaled, a habit that remained from the time when he still needed air to survive. Silent, he set down his staff and grabbed the insulation, scrubbing his forehead and throwing the stained material away. He realized that he wouldn't be able to clean every drop that would fall on him during his stay, and he would look like the cryptek very soon.

"We need to reactivate the inertialess drive," Khalid said, irritated.

The cryptek felt silent and looked down. It was clear he was processing the request, so Khalid didn't interrupt his though process. He could try to do the procedure himself, but on such a damaged ship, it was better to leave it to a professional, no matter how ancient and quirky that person was.

The silence became heavy. Khalid glanced back to the crew roster.

"We would have to reroute power from most other systems for that," the cryptek said thoughtfully. "We would be exposed and vulnerable to impacts and radiation. I still have forty two thousand-"

"I've heard enough. If we'd have to disable the shields, then we land on a nearest planet with non-corrosive atmosphere, harvest local organics and get the energy we need twice faster."

Khalid pressed a symbol, and the star system they were in came on screen. He zoomed in on the third planed from the star.

"We land here," he said, pressing his metal finger against the picture. "I briefly scanned on approach, the natives will be of no threat to us."

"My scans showed their population to be over seven billion, and they already mastered the nuclear weaponry," the cryptek said plainly. "They will destroy us."

He immediately supported his statement with screens of footage, showing expansive cities and missile launch silos, and it meant that they would have to land elsewhere and process inorganic matter, a matter-energy transfer that would take dozens of cycles. Khalid had no lips to bite, so he didn't do so, but the prospect of staying on a damaged ship for so long filled him with definite unease.

"However, there is an enclosed sub-dimension next to the planet," the cryptek said. "It is veiled by a single tesseract barrier. The level of technology is considerably lower, and the population is a little over five thousand, but sensors picked aberrant probability spikes from some of the natives."

He fell silent, and Khalid slowly turned back to the minimized crew roster.

"Start barrier breach subroutines and prepare for planetfall," he ordered. The cryptek bowed awkwardly, shuffled away, and Khalid dismissed the window after one last final reassurance of what he has seen.

There were twelve thousand and sixty six hibernating necrons on the ship.

Twelve thousand of them were destroyers.

**[...]**

Sanae cringed at the state of the shrine. Weather-beaten and worn on the outside, inside it was a picture of disrepair and neglect, to the point of cobwebs in room corners.

Her host was in no better shape either. Despite mid noon, the Hakurei priestess looked like she just got out of bed, yawning, stretching, her red outfit wrinkled and not very clean. At least the sleeves were ironed and bleached, but it was of little effect to the whole image.

Their track through the shrine was short, and they were currently in the kitchen, sitting at a plain western-style table, the room mirroring the overall state of the building.

"The state of the shrine is unacceptable," Sanae declared. "You should be ashamed."

"Cleaning day is Thursday, and Thursday is tomorrow," Reimu said sleepily. "I'd like to see your shrine at the day before the cleaning day. And my tea is better than yours."

Sanae puffed her cheeks. True, the tea was good, and it was a surprise visit, but this was not a proper way to treat a guest, especially her, the living goddess.

"The substitute branch of the Moriya Shrine is right outside, and it is always clean," Sanae said. "Your attitude is insufferable."

"Cry me a river."

Sanae slammed her hand on the table, stood up and pointed at the window. "Reimu, a giant alien ship landed outside the village! It's a horrible, horrible crisis and you are not doing anything!"

"Is it doing anything?"

Sanae stumbled for a moment. "N-no, but have you seen it? It's huge! And sinister! We must unite and end this horrifying threat once and for all! It is our calling in life as priestesses!"

"Uh-huh, sure. Also, the village is _that _way."

Reimu pointed at the wall opposite to the window. The wall featured a sliding door, which in turn featured a large greasy spot, and the sight of it nearly caused Sanae to fly into rage, grab Reimu by her hair bow and drag her outside for a brutal, pitched spell card battle.

Not that Sanae was obsessed with cleanliness in itself, it was only the surface symptom of deeper problems of the Hakurei faith, sloppiness and slowness of reaction to potential threats. Sadly, the shrine and Reimu were as part of Gensokyo as everything else, and it had to be protected from aliens like the rest of Sanae's new home.

"Fine," Sanae said. "Sit, drink tea and do nothing. I'm going to the village, and I'm going to solve this incident all by myself."

Reimu responded with a prominent yawn. Sanae bit her lip, turned on a heel and nearly ran out.

"Goodbye! Tell the villagers that the Hakurei Shrine always appreciates donations!"

Sanae stormed past the donation box, not slowing down. Reimu's attitude was somewhat understandable, but understandable didn't mean excusable, especially in the case of such a massive threat.

The ship arrived the day before yesterday, at night. The light show was impressive, bright purple as it slid through the barrier, green when it landed, but since then it lay on the fields a fair distance outside the village, unmoving and silent. Roughly the shape of the crescent moon, covered in square pyramids of various sizes, in Sanae's mind it was a deadly scorpion, waiting to grab the village in its pincers, and with almost a mile length, it had all the ability to do so.

It was only a matter of time before it would open its numerous pod gates, and hordes of disgusting grey creatures with bulbous, oversized heads and plasma blasters would surge out, drowning the land and subjugating the population to the will of their floating brain overlords. And it was up to Sanae, and her only, to stop the invaders.

Well, deep down she really hoped that she would get at least some help in her righteous endeavor, but all the help she received so far were Reimu's yawns and some uplifting words from Kanako. Which left Keine, if the historian would even listen to her.

Sanae briefly glanced to side, ensuring that their branch shrine was indeed in pristine condition, and flew towards the village, as taking the road that consisted of little else than a series of stairways was out of question. The slope turned slightly, and the view of the valley opened before her, a single gleaming dot moving from the alien structure towards the village.

Sanae increased her speed, and the dot took shape of a swaying, insect-like armored construct.

The alien ambassador has arrived.

**[...]**


	2. Chapter 2

**[...]**

The door plate slid up with unpleasant grating sound, and Khalid got good view on the native settlement of organic savages. He turned a control knob, and his Triarch Stalker took a step forward.

These mobile platforms could perform multiple battlefield tasks, from fire support to gruesome assaults, when the six bladed legs would stab and pierce the panicked victims, but for now, the main function of the vehicle was to inspire awe and fear. Indubitably, the natives would prostrate themselves at the mere sight of it.

Converting the savages into servitude to Necrontyr was not part of the mission, but the threat was non-existent, the language of the natives was analyzed and deciphered hundreds of cycles ago (as naturally, the cryptek had little to do but to spy on local life forms), and the opportunity was just too perfect to waste.

Naturally, the cryptek objected, and complained, and showed his nonsensical graphs with probability spikes, but he was easily silenced with a few orders. The walking throne was taken out of containment of Khalid's own tiny ship, connected to the grid of "Aeon Apex" and reactivated.

The walker moved smoothly and silently, and at the edge of the settlement some figures pointed in his direction. Khalid could no longer change his facial expression, but he made an inward cruel smile. Soon, they would praise him at their new god.

"I am getting a spike, praetorian. Discretion is advised."

The annoying voice of the cryptek came through a non-visual communication channel, and Khalid turned the volume down. No chart value was going to take his glory away from him.

He reached the edge of the village, marked by a low, decorative white fence. The stalker stepped over it, and the metal legs clanked loudly on the primitive pavement. The local sun was about quarter way over horizon, and plenty of organic inhabitants were out in the open. Many noticed the walker, some of the younger ones pointed, and Khalid switched on the language processor. The cryptek was still in connection, inputting his comments on obscure terms.

"Well, this is unusual. A spider youkai {_type of native folk concept, term analysis incomplete_} of metal?"

"Honey {_type of nectar, processed by local insects_}, don't point, it's impolite."

"Better stay away from it, those things look sharp."

"Wow, this looks like it was made by kappa {_type of youkai_}."

This was odd. There was no fear, only mind curiosity in the tone of the natives. Khalid continued down the street, and people calmly stepped to the sides, allowing him passage. Nobody ran, reached for weapons or showed any sort of strong emotions.

In this atmosphere of calm, Khalid reached the settlement main square. He got a small crowd following him, mostly consisting of young native species, the others returned to what they were doing after a brief look or comment.

The village square was packed with vendor stalls, all surrounding a rough chiseled statue of a winged carnivorous creature. Khalid made an assumption that the primitives worshiped it as their god, and this thought filled him with disgust. He connected the language processor to his own vocalization module, turned the volume up and spoke.

"I am Khalid, the Triarch Praetorian of the great Necrontyr. We are necrons, the living gods of infallible metal. I claim this world as our own. Kneel."

He awaited reaction. Unsurprisingly enough, he got full attention of the numerous natives, but the processed language feedback on his hololithic screen was less than respectful.

"Yeah, here we go again. And it's been what, three weeks {_local timeframe reference, roughly two percent of a cycle in one week_} since something like this happened?"

"Another newcomer with superiority complex. Should we call for Keine or for Reimu {_voice modulation indicates local figures of authority_} right away?"

"Gods of metal? That's new. I could sure use a god of metal to help my business."

"Stop right there, filthy alien!"

The last shout prominently stood out, and Khalid focused on the source. It came from a young female native, pushing quickly through the crowd. She differed in clothing style from those around her, both in quality and color. While most of the settlement dwellers wore drab and muted garments, the upper part of her clothing was bleached, and the lower blue and dotted part was definitely crafted with the use of synthetic paints. The same went for her obviously painted bright green hair.

Her attitude and wording also shed some light on the general reaction of the populace. They were obviously used to "aliens" or visitors from the nearby larger planet, the more advanced civilization there using this place as some sort of reservation or a slave camp.

It was also obvious the vocal female had some authority, as she was brandishing some kind of symbol, a white rectangle cloth on a stick, and when she raised it the crowd started to rapidly thin out, stalls closing and adults pulling the children out.

"I am Sanae Kochiya, the living goddess! We won't tolerate any aliens and alien threats! Get back to your ship and return to your... necrosis thing!"

"The great empire of Necrontyr," Khalid voiced evenly, targeting the annoying creature with weapon systems of the stalker. A brief scan showed that this Sanae was not in any way different from the surrounding organics, no more a goddess than the nearest vegetable seller.

"Whatever. Get out!"

Khalid almost fired, but reconsidered at the last moment. Killing her would of course be effective terror tactic, but it would be much more enjoyable to break the spirit of the natives in some humiliating way. He turned the stalker slightly and targeted the statue.

"You are no god. Is this your god?" he mockingly asked. "Gaze upon the power the Necrontyr, the true gods, and watch what we will do to you all if you don't submit."

He pressed a button, and the stalker's weapon fired. No doubt, the crypteks had their own fancy name for it, "matter state agitator" or something similar, but Khalid called the weapon a heat ray, and it performed like one. Nearly invisible, it punched through the outer layers of the statue, and then Khalid widened the beam. The stone turned red, then white, and then it melted.

The orderly retreat of the villagers turned into a rushed one. Still no panic or screams, but the settlement square was now almost clear. Sanae didn't run, shielding her eyes from the heat wave.

"Is this all?" she asked, blinking. "That's no act of divine, only power. I'll show you true divinity!"

She rose into the air. The sensors of the vehicle didn't show any jump packs, gravity repulsors or pshykic activity, and Khalid tapped the screen in disbelief. Was the cryptek messing with him?

Sanae extended her stick towards the steaming puddle of lava. Unbelievably, it started moving, rising, taking shape. Khalid looked at his sensors, but the screen was showing exactly what his own optical sensors were showing implausible things, the lava taking shape of the statue he just destroyed.

He turned to Sanae. It was definitely not easy for her she smiled, but her posture and smile were strained, and sweat started forming on her brow. She noticed his gaze and slightly turned.

"This is the Dragon, the ancient protector of Gensokyo. He will obey my every command. Run, alien, run while you still can."

Khalid roared. No matter what was happening, no matter how unbelievable it all was, he didn't come here to be humiliated and mocked. He pushed the control lever, and the stalker leaped forward, to tear the insolent organic creature limb from limb.

Sanae dodged the mid-air swipe.

And the next instance the lava dragon crashed into the side of the vehicle, burst through the quantum shielding and overturned the walker, melting through the power conduits on the underside and causing an explosion.

Khalid was thrown out of the seat, both of his legs nearly destroyed. The dragon lost shape, and the wave of lava streamed towards Khalid.

He knew it was useless to run, and he knew the phase out systems would save him, so in this last moment he found Sanae amidst the smoke and pointed at her, swearing the destruction of her and her whole world, promising the apocalyptic devastating war.

The language processor was destroyed along with the walker, but he was sure his hate would deliver the message.

**[...]**

Sanae sank to the ground and leaned heavily on one of the stalls, panting. A moment ago, she felt like she was able to take on the alien ship all by herself, but the moment was gone, and with it came the realization of how much faith she had spent and how many rules she had broken.

The alien was gone, the iron figure disappeared in flash of emerald energy the moment the lava wave reached it, and the spidery construct was nothing more than a stone-embedded scrap pile now, but for Sanae, it didn't feel like victory.

Maybe the fuming Keine, who just burst out of the school and was menacingly approaching, had something to do with that.

"Sanae Kochiya!" Keine shouted on approach. "What is the meaning of this?"

Sanae let go of the stall and wiped her face from the sweat. She beamed, and positioned herself so Keine would not face all the damage during their conversation.

Unlike Reimu, Keine Kamishirasawa had Sanae's respect. Always polite and composed, she fit the role of the village guardian well. She was an adviser, a historian, a mediator of conflicts, and Sanae was hoping that Keine would acknowledge the alien threat right away and lend the help of the village militia in the effort of repelling the invasion.

At the moment, however, Keine was clearly not at her best. She reached the edge of the zone of destruction and grabbed her head, slowly circling it. The sight of her blue dress disappeared behind the fumes, then reappeared on the other side, she stomped towards Sanae and quite rudely pointed.

"Why, Sanae?" Keine asked, her voice a mix of sadness and contempt. "Why?"

"I... saved the village?"

"You attacked the visitor! You didn't use spell cards and destroyed his property!"

It was spoken in a way to induce shame, but for Sanae, it caused nothing but anger. Keine was wrong, both in her judgment and attitude towards the situation. Sanae folded her arms and glared.

"Sure, blame me for everything, go for an easy answer. It's all Sanae's fault, it always is. Treat the skeletal metal aliens better than you treat the Moriya shrine, go on, don't stop."

This threw Keine off, but only for a moment. She glared back, and took a likewise aggressive stance.

"I am not treating anyone differently. The visitor broke the rules, but he didn't know better. If Reimu was here, she would have handled it properly."

Sanae controlled herself and didn't respond. The aliens were a real threat, and arguing, dissent and confrontation among their enemies would be the exact thing they would want.

"I'm leaving," Sanae said. "Once I destroy the aliens, I'll help with the statue and repairs."

"You are not going anywhere. I am going to the ship to talk to them, clear up this misunderstanding and ensure village safety. You are coming with me, and you _will_ apologize."

"No."

"Then I have no choice but to force you. Draw your spell cards."

Now, Sanae understood. Keine's behavior had a simple, easy explanation. The aliens already implanted their tiny parasites into her, forcing her to obey and protect them, making her see the invaders as something understandable and sympathetic.

Keine had to be stopped, so Sanae pulled her first spell card out.

They started with a normal attack, and this one was similar for both of them. It was simple orb danmaku, red and blue patterns that were structured at first, then broke apart and turned into a dizzying mass.

There was, however, a difference. Sanae was her own source of danmaku, she created it from her own faith, and Keine relied on an array of spell familiars. She easily dodged the orbs, but she couldn't protect the spell seals, and with each destroyed, the pattern thinned out and she received insignificant, but nevertheless painful backlashes.

They rose higher over the village square, and declared spell cards. Sanae was first, [Wonder"Daytime Guest Stars"], a spread of slicing contained light, supported by a stream of homing globes. Keine countered with her own, [Ending Sign"Phantasmal Emperor"], a very similar pattern but again, the generating familiars were its weakness.

The battle was now high above the ground, safely contained in a bubble, and the villagers started to return to the square, craning their necks and enjoying the spectacle. Some cheered, some simply watched, and some started to place bets.

The spell cards ticked out, and new ones were used, [Miracle"God's Wind for Sanae and [Land Sign"Three Sacred Treasures Orb for Keine. Once again, nearly similar, circular spreading patterns supported by large hollow orbs in the lead.

The spell cards ended, and there was a short pause. They were both still unharmed, but Sanae felt she was nearing her limit, and Keine was in not much different shape due to the destruction and backlash from all the familiars. Sanae decided to press on, and maybe gain some advantage with a taunt.

"Can't you do anything better than copy me? Are you that rigid and uncreative?"

Keine remained calm. "There is a lesson to be learned in losing to your equal."

"You are not my equal. The blood of gods courses in my veins, while you are not even fully human. I am superior in every way to you, that alien, Reimu, everyone else in Gensokyo. I am unmatched in power."

The last traces of the previous spell cards burned up, and Keine drew her last one, [Future"Gods' Realm"].

"Spell card battle is never about power, Sanae. It is about motivation, and my motivation right now is to educate you, show you the error of your ways and teach you some very important things called "tolerance" and "humility"."

"And my motivation is to save the whole Gensokyo. I am going to win."

Keine fired first, a beautiful intersecting spread of lasers, shifting, turning, captivating. Sanae's own spell card was no less impressive, [Sea Opening: Moses's Miracle], a representation of crashing sea waves that stood still, straight broken chains of danmaku in between.

There was a piercing sound, and Keine fell, residual energy from the direct hit burning up at her chest. The spell battle barrier broke her fall, and she was gently lowered to the ground, barely conscious. Sanae followed, wincing and holding her side where a beam left a prominent blackened graze. The villagers moved closer, and one of them helped Keine get up.

"I won," Sanae said.

"But you haven't learned."

Sanae frowned. "Like it or not, I am still going to dictate my terms. You are going to veil the village from the aliens, you will not negotiate with them, and when the statue is restored, you will put my name somewhere on the pedestal, "recreated with the help of Sanae Kochiya, the shrine maiden of Moriya", something like that."

"Fine," Keine said with a cringe. She turned and walked back towards the school, leaning heavily on villager's shoulder for support.

Sanae did the same, in other direction. Nobody offered help, but she was used to it, and she was fine with it. Destroying the aliens was the right thing to do, and she was sure everybody would understand given time, even Keine and Reimu would.

And for that goal, if she would have to turn other, unsavory, poorly motivated allies and questionable methods, then so it would be.

One way or another, that ship was going to be destroyed.

**[...]**


	3. Chapter 3

**[...]**

Sanae sat down on the shrine porch, leaned to a pillar and tried to relax her shoulders. It was way past sundown, the day was long and stupid, a whole day of fruitless effort and negative conversations.

The more Sanae traveled around Gensokyo, the more plausible became the theory of aliens already infiltrating all layers of society. She wasn't challenged to a spell card duel again, but neither did she receive support, any support.

"Nope, no alliances. If I'm gonna plunder the alien ship, I'm gonna do it alone," Marisa said.

"Um... I sure would like to study their technology, but destroying them for that? No, no, of course not," Nitori said, shaking her head.

"Destroy the ship? No way. I still haven't finished my first set, there are plenty of photos to take. Alien ship in clear sunset, alien ship in morning fog, alien ship eaten by Rumia, have to really play with perspective there."

And after Aya's refusal, Sanae lost all energy to continue. She returned back to the mountain shrine, and was now sourly awaiting her punishment.

She heard footsteps, and a moment later she was hit on the head, lightly, but unpleasantly enough.

"Ow!"

"That's what you get for recklessly spending faith! Pain!" Suwako punctuated, menacingly leaning over Sanae so their eyes would meet.

Sanae rubbed her head. "Sorry."

The tiny goddess circled Sanae, not breaking eye contact the entire time, and stopped in front of her, hands on hips. She didn't look as energetic as usual, as if she lost some color from her frog-encrusted dress, and the eyed had looked tired.

"Apology accepted," Suwako said and tapped her foot. "But next time I won't take a hit for you, and the faith drain will cause your body to crumble, instantly turning to pudding. Which reminds me."

She circled Sanae again and went back into the shrine. Sanae rubbed her head one more time and sighed. Suwako was of course joking, but there was unpleasant truth to that joke. The dragon miracle was so grand it drained from the shrine, and Kanako would surely be upset.

There were footsteps again, then they stopped, and Sanae tensed up inside. She slowly turned her head and saw Kanako towering over her, staring her down, the mirror at her chest stained and dull.

"I am very disappointed," Kanako said.

Sanae stumbled at the response. "But I... you shouldn't be, I did everything right! I overreached, yes, but..."

Sanae felt tears coming, and feverishly fought them back, blinking. She did everything right! She was right! No one should judge her, and definitely not Kanako! She approved of this!

Kanako's gaze softened, she sat down next to Sanae and held her hand. "Now, don't cry. You're a big girl, so don't. Sorry I snapped, Suwako kept drilling my head over this, so-"

"I'm not… crying," Sanae said, wiping her face with the sleeve. "Something got in my eye, that's it."

"Shh..."

"Don't shh me, I'm fine! Everything is just great! I want, for once, to be useful to Gensokyo, to be the hero, to save the day from the horrible skeletal aliens, but no one would listen to me! Not Reimu, not Keine, not even you! You are all blind!"

Kanako didn't respond, the pause stretched and turned into silence. Sanae slowly calmed down, and Kanako gave her a slight smirk.

"You know, there is always an easy way to become a hero," Kanako said. "You only need to do something heroic and die immediately afterwards. Instant posthumous gratification."

"Right," Sanae said with sarcasm. "That would surely work. Only with the local judge of the dead, I'd rather stay alive. I'd rather be an army commander, directing my loyal soldiers to death and glory."

"Until the first real death, and then you suddenly discover you are no longer able to stand the silence, with all the screams at the back of your mind."

Sanae sighed. Kanako was right of course, she has seen and participated in real wars, gods and mortals fighting and dying on both sides, but it was still not that easy to discard the whole idea. To give up, to accept that aliens could be looked upon as other creatures, that was not something that could be done on a whim. And yet...

"What should I do then?" Sanae asked. "If not soldiers... oh, I know! You'll just ask Okuu, she will listen to you. With the power of nuclear fusion, the alien ship will be gone in no time! Oh, and Suwako will rally the curse gods..."

Now it was Kanako's turn to sigh. She patted Sanae on the head and stood up. "I will not do it, and neither will Suwako."

"No? But-"

"Ask yourself, what do you want? Is it death and devastation, aliens burning in raw plasma? Or is it a flawless victory, a no-casualty victory, the victory Reimu always achieves?"

Sanae pouted. "I'm better than Reimu."

"Exactly. You are a better, superior priestess, you will achieve more. Meet with their leader, forge an alliance, convert them to our faith. How does that sound to you?"

"And think fast, or there won't be any pudding left!" Suwako shouted from the kitchen.

"I..."

Sanae paused. She has already gone through this, with her attitude towards youkai, from a desire of extermination to grudging acceptance, to real acceptance, but aliens, especially such ugly, inhuman aliens were beyond the line of acceptance. She would have to shift the line again, overcome herself again, and prove once again that she was indeed a superior shrine maiden.

"I will do it," Sanae said.

"Then I will arrange the meeting. Let's get inside and take a look at that laser injury of yours."

Kanako helped Sanae stand up, and they went into the shrine, to discuss the details of alien indoctrination and pudding composition.

**[...]**

The more Khalid spent on the ship, the more aware he became of the corruption of the launch program and the insanity of the cryptek who went along with it. If he didn't know better, he'd consider it a deliberate sabotage.

The cryptek repaired Khalid's body in a dirty and malfunctioning recovery pod, the ceiling constantly leaking with nanite oil. He didn't keep silent, instead he exploited Khalid's inability to move as an excuse for a lengthy lecture on the organics and their customs, and waved around a scribbled sheet of paper, a request for negotiations the natives sent. He even dared to connect the portable language processor to Khalid's voice modulator without permission, insisting that the possibility of communication should always remain open.

And the response to the order of reactivating the heavy destroyer legions was another hololithic window with reactor power distribution. When Khalid didn't believe the graph, the mechanoid led him to the cargo compartment for a firsthand look.

The stasis pods of destroyers were not properly arranged, they were stacked together and jammed into stacks, rows upon rows of interconnected massive coffins. Literally interconnected too, since all stasis chambers comprised a single unit, plugged directly to the central energy grid. No wonder the ship was nearly destroyed by the asteroids, with such a massive power distribution flaw like that.

"Do you see it now?" Khalid asked. "What is the purpose of "Aeon Apex" if it lacks the reactor power to reactivate its primary war asset?"

"I suppose we were meant to connect to another fleet ship for that," the cryptek said. He was standing a bit to the side of the door, dully surveying the coffins.

"You _suppose_," Khalid spit. "What about logic? Wouldn't it be logical to split them into dedicated stasis chambers, on a better, more suitable transport? Wouldn't it be logical for a raider ship to be outfitted for raider purposes, with fast vehicles and mobile troops?"

"Mine is not the station to question the launch program. I am still to wait forty two thousand-"

"Shut up. Close the door," Khalid barked. The cryptek obeyed, and Khalid again had to wait to let his anger drain away.

He almost screamed when the cargo bay door stuck three quarters the way down.

"Does anything on this ship work?" Khalid hissed.

"The hydraulics suffered the most during a triple asteroid impact seven thousand three hundred and twenty cycles ago."

Khalid didn't feel the need to respond. The door moved again, clanged shut, and cryptek opened a hololithic chart, checking the grid connection and sending a drone for proper repairs.

"I need my army," Khalid said. "Awaken the warriors, the deathmarks, give me control over your spyders, scarabs, wraiths, everything. I will trample these savages into dirt."

The cryptek's eyes flared up, and he gave Khalid an honest insolent glare.

"Shall I modify the engrams of my lord too, so he would be a slave to your petty ambitions, praetorian? You will have nothing you asked for."

The cryptek was ready for an attack, but Khalid still was faster, knocking the staff of his opponent to the side and pinning the feeble mechanoid to the wall, the two prongs of his weapon closing around the skeletal neck.

"Have you forgotten your station?" Khalid mockingly asked. "Have you forgotten the codes of Necrontyr?"

"Have you succumbed to destroyer curse?" the cryptek asked back. "My lord would not approve of meaningless genocide, and I shall not allow it. It's bad enough I am ordered to destroy the ecosystem of such a unique and beautiful world."

The eyes of the cryptek returned to their usual, dull and flickering state. Khalid still held him to the wall, contemplating whether he should power the weapon up and finally destroy this fool, as he should have done a few times already.

The arrival of a coiling wraith helped him make the decision. He pulled his weapon back, and the cryptek instinctively checked his neck and released a sound akin of a cough.

"Don't you dare compare me to those pitiful things," Khalid said, pointing at the door behind which the destroyers slept. "I am to leave behind me a legacy of order and glory, not an empty scorched void."

"Then negotiate and educate the natives. Show them the wonders of our technology, elevate them to our level of understanding. Start with their leader, invite her to our ship, show her-"

"Technology!" Khalid loudly scoffed, cutting the cryptek off. "Everywhere I go, technology is all I see, malfunctioning, neglected, corrupted, corroded beyond recognition. What will I show her here? The faulty hydraulics? You, a redundant addition to the automated repair systems?"

"I am not-"

The blast from Khalid's staff hit the cryptek square in the chest, melting through the ribcage, mechanical organs, spine and halfway through the wall behind. The mechanoid collapsed, emergency systems trying in vain to repair the catastrophic damage.

Khalid reached down and pulled the cryptek up by the chin, allowing him to see the wraith that was half-phased into the wall, still tinkering with the door mechanism, oblivious to everything but the programmed task.

"I've seen hundreds of your kind, hundreds. You are always scheming, hiding your weakness behind an illusion that you are irreplaceable. Everything you do, everything you are, all of it was automated shortly after the biotransference. You are nothing but a liability."

Khalid stood up and fired once more, melting the rest of cryptek's torso and head, the cascading energy of the weapon specifically designed to disrupt and slow down the reanimation protocols and phase-out procedures. It would not be enough of course, even the weakest of crypteks knew plenty of survival tricks, but it would do for now.

The glow faded, and stray scarabs started to gather around the body, preparing to break now useless scrap into energy to be used elsewhere, just as billions of them would soon surge out of the ship, devouring and processing all organics in their path.

"But you are right," Khalid said to the crumbling remains. "I should kill Sanae next."

**[...]**


	4. Chapter 4

**[...]**

Sanae was nervous. It was mostly the usual feeling of anticipation of the unknown, but something else mixed to that, something cold and empty, a feeling Sanae fruitlessly tried to fight for the last hour or so.

There was no more room for doubt, though. The alien leader had been contacted, the meeting had been arranged, and now all that was left to do was to cross the barren field, enter the shadow of the looming ship and enter it, to be instantly torn apart by the mechanical limbs, dismembered by circular saws, impaled on telescopic spears...

Sanae shook her head. The imagery of horrendous fate she constructed in her mind didn't help, and it refused to go away, looping and growing in intensity. Something was wrong about the ship and the whole situation she put herself into, and she couldn't find the cause.

After all, there was no real danger involved. The aliens would not kill her, on sight or otherwise, in Gensokyo things didn't work like that. The worst that could happen would be another misunderstanding, a danmaku fight, maybe a loss at danmaku fight. Still, the cold feeling grew, and Sanae realized that to get rid of it she would have to finally take a step and go towards the ship.

"Sanae."

Ah, great, she stood on the edge of the village for too long and Keine sneaked up on her. Sanae turned, and sure enough, Keine was there, along with Reimu, who once again looked sleepy and bored out of her mind.

"Keine. Reimu. What a surprise."

The words came out woodenly, and the atmosphere was strained and unnatural. Then Reimu yawned.

"So, you're really going to do it," she said half-questioningly. "Sanae, no offense, but this is a trap, and I have no desire to pull you out when you get captured."

"I am not going to get captured. I am going there to forge alliance with the aliens."

"You should have apologized to them right away," Keine said. "And you should have come with me when-"

"I know what I'm doing," Sanae interrupted. "If you want to stop me, let's settle this with spell cards. I can take on both of you at once, no problem."

Keine sighed and shook her head. Reimu chuckled, but quickly regained her neutral demeanor.

"Just don't overreach," Reimu said. "And don't even think of doing something stupid, like blowing up the ship from the inside."

Blood rushed to Sanae's cheeks and she quickly turned away. Was she really that easy to read? True, she did expect something to go wrong, but she would be close to the alien power source, and destroying it would surely make her a hero.

"In any case, we'll be here to back you up, so send us a message if you are going to spend the night inside of that thing. Otherwise, I and Yukari will bust you out, once she finishes her current urgent business at the border."

"You mean "wakes up"," Sanae scoffed without turning. "I am a big girl, I can take care of myself. Go home and clean the shrine."

Reimu yawned instead of responding, and Sanae started walking, clenching and unclenching her fists. Condescending, that was how they acted, Keine and Reimu. Fools and unbelievers, all of them.

She would show them all.

Sanae walked towards the colossal structure. Walked, not flew, exactly as Kanako told her. The instructions were simple, to make emphasis on human side, agree to little things, take a stand for important ones. Show a few minor miracles, impress the aliens, feign being impressed by the aliens, invite them to the shrine. Simple and easy.

The shadow of the ship fell on her. Up close, it was even more intimidating, the facade being almost the size of an apartment building in height. It sprouted spikes, pyramids and layered armor plates, some damaged, some engraved, some smooth and reflective.

Her presence was felt, and one of the plates slid up with unpleasant grating sound. Emerald light poured out, outlining a lone figure in the massive doorway. It was still a long way to go, at least one hundred paces, but Sanae forced a smile and waved anyway. She tried to fight the sinking feeling, but with every step it only grew stronger, and when Sanae reached the ship entrance she finally understood what she was feeling – dread.

The alien leader was there, backlit by emerald energies. He seemed much taller than the first time Sanae saw him, but she blamed the angle, the ship ramp and his long flanged staff for it. Size alone was no indication of power, Suwako served as a living proof of that.

Suppressing the urge to hold her breath, Sanae walked up the ramp. The light became unpleasant, then piercing, but she didn't shield her eyes. It was all for show, they would probably do a similar thing if they wanted to impress someone at the shrine. Bright lights, strong sounds and smells, all to hide the imperfections or minor mistakes.

Sanae stopped in front of the alien. Up close, he looked even more imposing, almost two feet taller than her, but even through the intense light it was possible to see numerous scratches and metallic latticed patchwork on his damaged legs. His upper torso and strange canopy that extended from the ribcage over his head were covered in irregular blackish green stains, and the annoyance from this sight vented some of Sanae's fear away. Who did he think he was, coming to such an important meeting like this?

Sanae bowed silently. It was important to allow the aliens to have initiative at first, stop thinking of them in a general manner of "aliens" and treat Khalid as she would treat any outsider Kanako would tell her to impress and convert.

Khalid didn't return her bow. It was incredibly difficult to read his facial expression, as his face, or rather an armored stylized faceplate was locked in permanent judging scowl, the only indication of emotion was in the shape and intensity of eye glow. Right now, it was hateful and narrow.

Khalid lifted his arm, and a series of green displays appeared above his open palm. They were transparent, and Sanae clearly saw herself being scanned through, layer by layer. She stayed silent when the process repeated.

"What is this, some kind of a joke?" Khalid asked and flicked his wrist, dismissing the displays. "No weapons, no bombs, no recording devices, you are not a look-alike or a clone. If I knew you would be so stupid to show up in person, I wouldn't have bothered with the assassins."

Sanae swallowed. When spoken with a frozen face and in an echoing, mechanical voice it was very hard to tell if this was meant to be a joke or not. However, the meeting started not the way she expected anyway, so Sanae decided to go all out.

"I am not stupid or unarmed. I am a living goddess, I can destroy your whole ship with a single miracle. Any attempt on my life will end in disaster, any assassin will miss, any poison will fail."

Khalid started laughing, a very unnerving sight since his posture didn't change. His eyes did dim a little, and Sanae took it for a good sign.

"You are no goddess," Khalid said in a while. "There are no "gods". The closest to true gods were the C'tan, the beings capable of swallowing stars, and even that didn't save them from the wrath of Necrontyr. "Aeon Apex" can not be destroyed. Miracles do not exist."

Sanae frowned. Her fear almost drained away, lurking somewhere at the back of her mind. In front of her was not a superior being, it was just another closed-minded unbeliever, inferior to even Reimu.

Sanae crossed her arms. "Are you going to keep me here? Invite me inside, show me your ship, and I will show you the power of miracles if you manage to impress me enough."

Khalid started laughing again, and this time it was a real laugh, his rigid metal form shaking as much as the armor allowed it. He mockingly bowed then.

"But of course, lady Sanae. Come with me, bear witness to the glory of our empire. Don't hesitate to ask anything on the way, I'd be happy to oblige."

He stepped back and turned, gesturing with his staff for Sanae to follow. The emerald light dimmed, and Sanae got a good look on the entryway, a dirty and cluttered corridor, cables jutting out of the walls and ceiling.

Khalid started walking, and Sanae followed, trying her best to hide her disdain and dodge the falling drops of oil. A few of them landed on the fringe of her dress regardless, the fabric being immediately discolored and corroded where the drops hit.

They made a turn, then another one. The light from the outside was gone, replaced with dim flickering of green, coming from pulsating cables and single eyes of metallic insects that slowly crawled around.

They stopped at an intersection and Khalid turned. "Liking the tour so far, Sanae? You are being unexpectedly silent."

"The ship is a mess. You should be ashamed you didn't tidy up for a guest," Sanae said plainly. Kanako told her to not be confrontational, but in view of everything around, she couldn't help it.

Khalid's eyes blazed for a second. "It's the reflection of the whole Necrontyr. I can't tidy up vast, galaxy-spanning empire for a visitor, no matter how important the visitor is."

"Stop hiding behind flowery words, there can't be an excuse for tardiness. I'm sure you have automated supersonic vacuum cleaners or something."

Khalid made a sound that closely resembled a sharp breath intake and quickly turned, pointing at one of the corridors that led away from the intersection.

"Your attempts at angering me are futile," he said. "Follow me, and I will show you the whole extent of our technological advancement."

"I'd rather have a nice open room with windows, couches and refreshments as our destination."

Khalid didn't respond, making his way through the tangled cables. Sanae winced, but followed nevertheless. This place stopped being scary for her, there was nothing scary in dirty maintenance corridors, and the metal insects were disgusting more than anything. Really, if she knew it would turn out this way, she would've left this whole incident to Reimu without a second thought.

They reached a vertical downward shaft, and Khalid jumped down, the green protrusions around his spinal canopy lighting up and slowing his fall. Sanae floated after him, and landed in a much wider, cleaner and better lit corridor, an armored door next to their landing spot.

Coffins lined the walls, dozens of vertical gleaming coffins. The lids were semi-transparent and stained, and behind them Sanae could clearly see the features of emaciated iron skeletons, their eyes dark and lifeless. The sight caused her to shudder in disgust.

"This is your idea of a pleasant location? A crypt?"

"This is the main stasis chamber," Khalid said, gesturing around. "These warriors slept for almost sixty million years, and yet they are only hours away from awakening and destroying your world. This is the extent of our military power."

Sanae scoffed. There were no more than fifty coffins here, they would be stopped long before they would even cross the field between the ship and the village.

"But this is not what I wanted to show you."

Khalid stepped to the armored door and activated the glowing panel beside it. The door slid up, revealing a small octagonal chamber, a chamber filled with light, haze and screams.

There were seven coffins in the room. Three were empty, open and steaming, two pulsated with emerald light, the indiscernible figures inside silently twitching. In the middle, the largest dark coffin, the motionless skeleton inside covered in plates of solid gold.

And to the side, a smaller one was laying smashed open on the ground, the screaming creature inside no more than a misshapen mass of metal scarabs, limbs and wires.

"This is the lord of "Aeon Apex"," Khalid said, pointing at the central coffin, and his voice this time showed definite emotion, cold cruelty. "He is asleep and unaware, frozen in time, just like the rest of the empire is. He is sleeping, while everything around crumbles and decays."

"And this is his advisor, the cryptek, the one responsible for the safekeeping of technology," he continued, gesturing to the writhing misshapen pile. "As you can see, he suffered a _malfunction_. I'd say it would require a _miracle_ to restore him."

The broken mass released another scream, and Sanae cringed. True, she was often asked for miracles to ease the pain of sick and suffering villagers, but no one ever asked for a miracle in such aggressive and hateful manner.

"Miracles aren't free," Sanae said. "A miracle won't happen if you are not willing to believe in my success. You have to lend me all your hope, all your faith. You have to open your soul to me."

Khalid gave her an empty laugh. "Miracles do not exist. What you do is nothing but conversion of energy, and you are nothing but a lucky amateur psyker, fated to die or go insane in a few years anyway."

"I've had enough," Sanae hammered. "I don't know what you are implying, but I've had enough of all this. Your attitude is unacceptable. This all is un-"

Sanae barely noticed the motion. She never expected such speed from such a large opponent, and only raw reflexes saved her when Khalid thrust his now blazing staff towards her head.

He rotated the weapon, going for a low sweep, but Sanae took flight and dashed out of reach. Khalid turned, something akin of surprise registering in his eyes.

"Oh, you are much better than I expected," he said. "No matter, it is impossible for you to escape. The empire might be broken and asleep, but the praetorians will forever ensure the rightful place of sentient organics in the universal order of things. Give up and die."

He jumped, swinging again, and Sanae again dodged, countering with a star-shaped spread of danmaku, a storm of energy orbs that bounced harmlessly against the armored bones of her opponent. Khalid fired a focused blast of energy from the tip of his staff, and Sanae once again only barely managed to evade.

She still didn't feel any fear, only deep frustration with the whole situation. It unfolded exactly like any another "incident" in the history of Gensokyo – she would have to beat this alien senseless, draw him out to the sun, pour tea on his stupid head, and then spend the rest of the afternoon explaining basics of spell card combat.

Sanae clenched her teeth. What was the point, then? What was the point in worrying, crawling around the filthy ship, seeing all this? She could have sat back and let Reimu do it next week.

"No. I am better than her! I am better than her, you hear?" Sanae shouted, sidestepping the staff swing and lunging forward. She reached out and grabbed the green symbol embedded into Khalid's chest armor.

"What are-"

"I will prove it, prove it with a miracle! And if you won't lend me your faith, I will take it by force! By the power of Moriya gods, let your faith be mine!"

Time never stopped. It kept on going as always, it was the perception of time that changed for Sanae. A long, extended moment, a moment of the miracle.

For Sanae, it all was on the level of feelings. No matter how much disgust she felt, that broken screaming creature was still suffering, it needed help. A moment of resistance, a moment of connection with the soul, and she would channel the faith, shape it, direct it where needed.

Not this time.

What was in front of her, the thing she was touching, it was not alive. It was an object, something inanimate, an illusion of life given to it by intricate webbing of symbols, protocols, flowing strings of ancient memories and emotions. Her faith resonated with it, and the strings started snapping, burning up, a spreading consuming fire of destruction.

Sanae screamed and pulled her hand away. Her hand left an imprint on the symbol, the metal bending in and cracking, mirroring the spreading spiritual damage. Khalid roared and grabbed her other arm.

"You are nothing but a walking corpse!" he shouted, his voice distorting along with his armor.

Sanae kicked forward and managed to break free, to her horror noticing that she pulled Khalid's hand away from the socket, the metal bubbling, screeching and crumbling. There was no stopping the decay, it was way too similar to what happened to the dragon statue, when a failed miracle couldn't hold the shape of the melting stone.

"I'm... I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

Sanae stumbled back, and Khalid screamed incoherently, mirroring the screams of the thrashing creature in the broken stasis chamber. His whole body was now distorting and steaming, and he fell heavily on door control panel, punching a sequence of symbols with melting fingers.

Sanae kept backing away, muttering apologies, and Khalid managed to turn, his head now lacking a face and quickly losing shape.

"You will not escape," he said, and then collapsed into a steaming heap of bubbling rust.

The chamber around Sanae came to life, emerald light funneling past the coffins of warriors and into the pod of the wailing thing, the metal flowing, mending it, pulling it into upright position. Beside it, a chamber broke open, and a skeletal warrior with an unusually long and cumbersome rifle stepped forward, scanning the corridor with bright, slitted eyes. He barked something and raised the rifle, and this action tore Sanae from her frozen state.

She ran past the chambers, and felt a wave of unnatural cold when a transparent energy shot missed her, impacting the metal wall with no visible effect. There was another maintenance shaft at the corner of the room, and Sanae took flight, using a blast of air to knock some of loose wires out of the way. She reached the maintenance area and hurried towards where the exit was supposed to be.

Sanae's eyes and throat burned. She overreached again, did something forbidden, and now had to somehow find her way back, return to the shrine, ask Kanako and Suwako for help, find a way to rationalize her failure, find a way to escape the shame. It was not her fault the miracle failed.

It was not her fault the necrons didn't have souls.

"I did everything right," Sanae muttered. "They are the enemy. I didn't make a single mistake."

She stepped on a metallic scarab and slipped, falling and bruising a knee. The insect wasn't crushed, it hissed and scuttled away, into yet another identical corridor. Sanae pulled herself up and hobbled forward, crossing an intersection, then another, a familiar one, now occupied by a large bladed and coiling creature. It regarded Sanae with indifference, moving only slightly when she circled it.

She continued towards the exit, trying to fight a rising wave of panic. The ship noticed her, identified her as an anomaly, started to retaliate. Stray scarabs started detaching from walls, taking interest. Sanae pushed or swatted them away, but they were reluctant to let go, collecting and shuffling behind, a whisper of hungering unintelligent swarm. Cables reached towards her, blindly searching for a foreign energy source, something to grab, assimilate and devour, not to satiate the hunger but to vent away and destroy.

Then it all stopped, as if by an unseen command, and everything plunged into silence. Sanae broke into a run, and unnatural emerald lighting mixed with the pale sunlight. She rounded the last corner and saw Reimu and Keine right outside the landing ramp, arguing over something.

Sanae blinked at the light, and tears filled her eyes. Yes, she would tell Reimu it was all because of light. Reimu would try to befriend the aliens, find a place for them in Gensokyo, invite them to parties afterwards. Reimu would not see the threat, she would be lured into false sense of security and killed. She was better than Reimu, and there were no reasons to cry.

Sanae walked down the ramp, trying her best to look somewhat presentable. The moment she was noticed, Reimu and Keine broke their quarrel and rushed to her.

"Are you alright? What did they do to you?" Keine immediately asked, grabbing Sanae's shoulders.

Sanae shook her head and pushed Keine away. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired, I'm really-"

"We have to get out of here," Reimu interrupted. "There is something here I can't-"

Her vision was a bit blurred, but Sanae still noticed it. A blink of light, and the next moment three figures appeared on the empty field, appeared as if they were always there, three armored figures with oversized, impractical rifles.

A ghostly halo of green lit up over Sanae's head, a halo of whispers and symbols. They formed a structured pattern, a clear single intelligible line: {_you are marked for death_}, the figures raised their rifles in odd coherency and fired.

Sanae was pushed to the side, Reimu somehow managed to push her to side with such force Sanae came down tumbling, and all three shots missed, only cold and wobbling air left in their passing. The assassins didn't get a second chance, as a wave of charms, orbs and bullets Reimu fired in return crashed upon them and they vanished in explosions of green haze.

"They can't kill me," Sanae muttered. "I have to believe that they can't-"

"Sanae, run!"

The shout came from Keine, and Sanae turned, crawling to her feet. Another similar figure stood at the ship entrance, another sniper, the one that silently followed her from the stasis chambers. He was already aiming at her, the rifle powering up, a captivating, mesmerizing sight, Sanae couldn't tear her eyes away, even as Keine's defensive spell unfolded and lasers pierced the figure, even as it managed to fire anyway, a shot that went straight through Sanae's heart.

She expected pain, but felt nothing but spreading cold as she fell and everything faded.

**[...]** **  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**[...]**

Khalid regained his awareness of self. Not his senses, only his mind awakened.

He didn't panic. Something pulled him out of non-existence, and that force would not stop halfway. Khalid bid his time, patiently awaiting change.

His sight and hearing returned, blurred encodings flowing at the edges of the field of vision. The angle was odd, much wider than usual, and a feeling of detachment accompanied it, like he was viewing a recorded message through his own eyes.

A familiar gaunt face appeared in his view, the cryptek's eyes dull and flickering as usual. The mechanoid was silent, tinkering with Khalid's throat. The metal clicked quietly, nanite oil drops were falling from the ceiling, it was exactly like his last visit to the repair chamber. Another defeat, no, another annoying setback on the way to destroying...

Khalid blinked and hastily pushed the thought away, dismantling it. Destroying the organics was never a goal. He sustained some engram damage, twice in a short timeframe, but it was not enough of a reason to succumb to destroyer madness. Even if the new gravity repulsor platform to fuse in place of his legs would allow him to fly much faster, and the gauss cannon would give so needed range, it was still not enough.

Khalid tried to shake his head, but he couldn't do it, it was as if his mind was floating in vacuum. The intrusive thoughts returned, flashing images of devastation and death. He tried to speak, but the sound came out weak and distorted, and was cut when the cryptek winced to the extent of his faceplate and twisted something.

"I am still connecting your voice modulator, be patient," the cryptek said. "You destroyers are so inconvenient to work on."

Khalid tried to push the leering face away, he tried to back away, but he remained right where he was, in complete weightlessness, the sensory input not of his own.

The cryptek glanced to the side, at one of the many displays. "Am I seeing fear patterns in your emotion core? And they said nothing can scare a praetorian. It's amazing how much can be achieved with a single misplaced word."

Khalid screamed, a scream of unbound rage, and this time the sound went through properly. The cryptek stepped back a little, looking smug.

"I am going to tear your head off with my bare hands," Khalid promised.

"You have no hands, and I am not going to restore the rest of your body. The automatic repair systems deemed further intrusion into your engrams unsafe, and who am I to question their decision?"

The cryptek brought up a wide hololithic screen, and like in a stained emerald mirror Khalid saw how he now looked like – a wire-wrapped spine with misshapen cranium at the top, sensory plate of a spyder connected to where the face should have been. An untapped potential for modification, but Khalid pushed the thought away and finally crushed it.

"I order you to restore my body, exactly as it was before."

"But I am just a redundant addition to the automated repair systems. Who am I to question their decision?" the cryptek repeated cruelly.

Silence fell between them. The hololithic window flickered out, replaced with a series of others, mostly power distribution reports. Likewise, Khalid's anger drained, replaced by hollow bitterness. He could understand a sizable part of the charts, and they showed the auxiliary engine to be online. They were in open space, a useless ship with a stubborn coward at the helm.

"Running away, how pathetic," Khalid said. "Gensokyo natives are surely celebrating right now, laughing at us."

"A possibility like any other. Although I don't find anything pathetic in preserving the ecosystem of a world that offers further unique possibilities for research."

"An excuse of a coward. You are afraid, were always afraid of something you can't understand. You don't have any faith in Necrontyr or yourself."

The cryptek brought up a few more charts. "I am working with probabilities, this is all. The probability of spontaneous overload of the power grid peaked at one to fifty while Sanae was on board. I am to ensure the safety of my lord and I am still to wait forty two thousand-"

He cut himself off and shook his head. "No, the wait is over. Your meddling with the stasis system destabilized it, and for better or worse, I am forced to reactivate the inertialess drive and return to dock. It will take twenty to fifty cycles, depending on the types of asteroids we process. I will keep you informed."

The cryptek gestured, dismissing the report windows. The light in the chamber dimmed, every sliver of excess energy relocated where needed. He lingered for a moment, then turned awkwardly and headed towards the exit.

"So, is this it? Is this the whole extent of your revenge? Leaving me immobilized in a small room for a few cycles, oil dripping on my exposed spine? It will not drive me insane, it is a minor inconvenience."

The cryptek stopped. "You are an arrogant fool, unworthy of your station, a disgrace to the Triarch. It is a fitting punishment for someone like you. Isolation, humiliation, and knowledge of your failure. The deathmarks failed, praetorian."

"Is this supposed to upset me?" Khalid asked with a chuckle. "Am I supposed to care about her? It was never about Sanae, it was about you and me, and face it, a million cycles may pass and you still wouldn't do a millionth fraction of what I have already done for Necrontyr."

"This conversation is over."

"Now, really?" Khalid laughed. "This is the extent of your argument? I made mistakes, overreached and lost a part of myself, but I don't regret a single moment. Because it is better to be even a destroyer than to be you, a loyal, unquestioning slave."

The cryptek's eyes flared up, he jerked his staff up and pointed at Khalid's head, energy gathering at the tip. "Worthless, decaying wretch, I will-"

He stopped and looked down, his eyes losing the intensity, returning to flickering. "I congratulate you on your successful mission, praetorian," he said dully.

He lowered the weapon and shuffled away, leaning heavily on the staff, shuddering like from a crack of a whip when Khalid started laughing again.

**[...]**

Sanae woke up. She didn't dream, but the inky blackness left a feeling of unease with her. It was accompanied by the sensation of feverish cold, and Sanae shivered, crawling out of the bed and waving her arms to shake the feeling off and get blood flowing.

She was at the Hakurei Shrine, the smell and look of the place were unmistakable. Even if trademark red-white charms were not scattered around the room she'd still recognize it. At least Reimu had the courtesy to not strip her naked.

The details of her alien encounter blurred and faded. In retrospect, it all seemed rather shameful. She shouldn't have ran, she shouldn't have been afraid that the ship would drain and devour her. She shouldn't have judged the soulless creatures that harshly. She should have dodged that shot.

Sanae found her shoes, visited the bathroom and silently headed for the exit. The bathroom mirror reaffirmed her of how miserable and pale she looked, a streak of her hair discolored by one of the oil drops, and she was in no mood to hear Reimu's self-righteous and condescending gloating, veiled to look like helpful advice.

"Hey, Sanae. How do you feel?"

Sanae stopped and sighed. Of course Reimu would monitor the exit.

"Never better, best day of my life," Sanae said dryly.

"Lies. It can't be the best day of your life until you have some of my tea."

The door to the kitchen was open, and Sanae made her way to it. She could refuse, walk away, but it would only postpone the talk. Reimu would have her way, she always did.

She sat at the table, and Reimu made herself busy with tea preparations. The kitchen didn't look any cleaner, and Sanae forced herself to stop concentrating on all the grease stains. They brought up unpleasant memories.

The tea was served, and for a while, they sat in silence. Sanae was thirsty, but she also felt a little nauseous, and Reimu was uncharacteristically awake and examining, or rather staring at Sanae's face. After awhile, it became annoying.

"What?" Sanae asked.

"Nothing. Serious question though, how do you feel? Pain, numbness anywhere? The hollow feeling of the cold embrace of death?"

"How funny."

"It wasn't funny when you fell over and stopped breathing, so I'm asking."

Sanae gave Reimu a disapproving look. "Would you knock it off? I couldn't die, the alien rifle had no bullets in it. If I feel anything right now, it's disappointment, in aliens and myself."

"Hmm..." Reimu tapped her chin. "Well, I am not going to doubt your miraculous resurrection. You look mostly fine, so you're probably mostly fine."

"Reimu, get this over with," Sanae said impatiently. "Scold me, tell me of how brilliantly you've solved the incident and I'll leave, to receive similar enlightening lectures from Keine and Kanako. A lesson is learned, and everything is all right with the world."

Reimu cleared her throat. "Right. So... no, wait, I have to be standing for this."

Reimu pushed her chair back, stood up and pointed between Sanae's eyes. "Sanae Kochiya, you are hereby judged by the will of Hakurei. For solving the incident improperly and without permission, you are to be punished, exiled from Gensokyo forever. Would you like to say your last goodbyes to your gods?"

Sanae blinked. "W-what?"

"I said, would you like a refill? Your tea is getting cold," Reimu said nonchalantly, still pointing. Sanae blinked again, then frowned.

"Not funny again, and stop it with the dumb jokes. You are a priestess, for gods' sake, act like one!"

"See, this is your problem," Reimu said, and went to get the teapot. "Warped expectations. You expect the world to be a certain way, and when it doesn't fit you start shaping it with miracles, with skill and grace of a three-legged goat."

"I am not like that."

Reimu returned and started pouring tea. "Yes, you are. Stop living in denial and accept the fact that you are nothing but a worthless insect before the might of our new iron masters."

Sanae froze in place. What was happening?

"You are joking again, right?"

"Yep," Reimu said, set down the teapot, and her face broke into a wide grin. "Lighten up, will you?"

"Gah! Why can't I read you, your face is like of... those things! You are like those things, sleeping all the time, not concerned about anything, and cruel! Don't forget cruel!"

"Why thank you, what a great comparison. Should I say that you and that Khalid creature are a great match? It's a good thing they left, the wedding would be so awkward."

"Shut up! Don't you dare-" Sanae stumbled mid-sentence. "Wait, they left?"

"Yes, flew off, and I had nothing to do with that. I say good riddance, those iron youkai were spiritually disgusting."

Sanae didn't find anything to say. So this was it? This was the resolution? Not destruction, not acceptance of the alien culture, but this?

"And this means that the incident, for what it is, is all yours," Reimu said. "Its start, its solution and its consequences. You didn't forget the consequences, right?"

Sanae looked down at her cup. In the end, all she could boast was that nobody got seriously injured or killed among the villagers. Hardly a victory to be proud of, hardly anything to compare to Reimu's achievements.

"The dragon statue," Sanae said sourly.

"Yes, the dragon statue. Fill up your faith gourd, or however you do it, and get to repairs. I want to see it fixed by the end of next week."

"But..."

"Yes, I know it will take months, but start next week anyway. Early bird gets the worm and all that. You may consider this saying today's overarching moral lesson if you wish."

Reimu refilled her own cup, and the kitchen went silent. Sanae's nausea subsided halfway through their talk, and she overall felt a little better. She downed her tea and stood up.

"Thanks for the welcome, but I should get going and tell everyone I'm alright."

"Don't be a stranger... well, I'd really like it if you acted more like a stranger, announcing your visits and donating, but you get the idea."

"I suppose I do," Sanae said dully. "See you later."

"Goodbye! Tell the villagers that the Hakurei Shrine always appreciates donations!"

Sanae walked out on the porch. The sun was setting, and it meant that she spent the whole day out cold. Or was it the next day already? In any case, Sanae didn't want to return and check the calendar.

She looked to the side. Yes, the branch shrine still looked infinitely better than the Hakurei building, but it was of little comfort. Reimu simply didn't care about shrine competition, and was not likely to change her attitude anytime soon, or ever.

Sanae sighed and looked up. Was it really that bad it all ended like it did? The villagers would not know of her struggles and doubts. They would see a living goddess, a victor over Keine, a statue restorer, an incident solver. She would walk proudly through the streets, a smile on her face, and no one would suspect a thing.

And Reimu, with all her power and skill, she would sleep her life away at her crumbling shrine, begging for donations, only youkai to keep her company. Like necrons she would sleep, and like for necrons, the only feeling for her would be pity.

Sanae smiled, dug a few coins from her pocket, and dropped them in the donation box.

**[END]**


End file.
